Recruiting 20,000 officers over the next three years is a huge opportunity for policing

Below is a statement from the College of Policing about recruiting and training 20,000 extra officers.

Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, College of Policing CEO, said: “I’m pleased the new Prime Minister has made such a strong public commitment to improve police officer numbers.

“Recruiting 20,000 officers over the next three years is a huge opportunity for policing, to bring in more officers, to equip them and to extend diversity across the service. It is a significant challenge but it is one we are already working to make a reality.

“The demands on the police are growing while the nature of policing is becoming more complex and at the same time criminals are becoming more sophisticated.

“We have updated the training to match the complexity of the job today and by next year there will be more than 30 police forces delivering the new course.”